Menu

other interests

I was asked to post today’s treasure…. which happened to be a .77 cent avocado and two wooden cigar boxes.. one is headed to a salad and one is on its way to being one string guitar.. the last one is for keeping stuff in….probably netsuke since cigar boxes tend to be stable when it comes to humidity…

The close up of the .77 cent avocado is gratuitous.. they cost $2 in New Zealand and I like to point that out as often as possible. to annoy the gf..

I get a certain smug satisfaction out of it.. if by smug one means glee…

I don’t have proper display tables or cabinets, so to protect stuff, it goes in boxes..then into bigger boxes. Or in this case a locking chest.

I got busy rooting around..and had the pleasure of discovering a few things all over again.. jade bowls for instance, I like mottled jade because it has that camo thing going, which strike me as funny.. chests of amber..fossils, crystal balls that are unusual in a number of ways…

But we all have our fascinations….

Netsuke kept turning up at random intervals…along with a complete albit small sino-hadrosarus, a box of space junk and some moldovites that were laying out at random..

It’s so much fun to rummage through boxes, its like a big easter egg hunt with a touch of hide and seek…or finding pirate treasure…

Now I want dinner… except I’m worn out from moving a literal ton of stuff around..

Aside from dinner, straight razors and getting bucked off the bicycle on a regular basis..

I go through my loot collections, it’s a nice break… sort of like a visit too a museum back room where everything is interesting… and kept in boxes.

African trade beads… jade bowls, netsuke, defunct coinage and currency from defunct empires.. pre-money trade items, stuff that fell from the sky… the work of silversmiths I admire…or things so obscure only one person in a hundred has a clue…

It’s all about provenance and history.. art and workmanship… sometimes antiquity and the OMG factor….

I got busy examining my box of loot and eating the contents there-of along with the results of project week… except for the I phone, art book, shirts and opal rough etc..

At which point I got sucked in by season five of Vampire Diary’s and vegged out for a day or two…

Till I saw whats her name using a straight razor….and I drifted off into a lets look in the various treasure chests I have stashed routine..

Which is always a treat, since I forget what is in them or how good the stuff is, even if I remember in the first place…

I was on a search for my straight razor stash… I’d been on a lets make shaving soap kick lately since I’m almost out of the last batch..and need to actually write down some instructions, rather than just assume everyone knows how the process works..

But regardless…. I found my razors, and had forgotten there’s an Ivory handle or two in the mix, which is why they get kept in a humidor in the first place…the whole thing was hysterical.. one real razor can last several generations.. but I tend to buy more for special events or go on a road trip..

I found a cabinet to use for a spice cabinet or proofing box.. its pretty nice, the door is beveled glass… which is worth several times more than the cabinet… and it’s big enough for chilis..and ageing, fermenting or whatever… proofing is humid so it has to be an either or deal to protect the spices.

About the the bunny… which is sitting on the new cabinet, with my bike in the foreground for scale…..

The neighbor nearly fell over laughing when the delivery showed up.. he was asking the driver “wtf is it?”, as I rolled up on my bike..

So I told him it’s going to be the new shop night light and he started laughing again…

Like he doesn’t have a mannequin dressed in moto-cross gear outside his shop…

But I seem to fit in, which is a nice change.. My projects, quirks, insomnia and privacy issues tend to drive normal neighbors up the wall..

Its talk like a pirate day, which led me to rum, dark Mexican rum to be specific and from there to rum raisins.

At which point the original and simple idea went off the rails…

Currants and dried cherries were added to the mix along with whole spices, cloves, cinnamon, allspice, ginger and anise..

The other snap jar has leche de tigre in it from civiche.. but as soon as it’s empty, I have enough rum and raisins left to fill that one also.. the raisins and all should be good to go by December..

Too bad it won’t be ice cream weather on this side of the equator in December… and customs south of that same equator get kind of huffy about jars of hooched up fruit..

I needed a break from cooking critters and wanted to do something different, something that I wouldn’t have to finish off in three days.. I probably could have cheated and used a spiced rum like captain Morgan since its talk like a pirate day.. but $20+ vs $4 won the contest.

I really need to work on the photography end of things, I know how to deal with glare, flash, lighting, reflection, back drops and do a good job of it..

But personal stuff is sort of slap dash, point and click..

No excuses though…

I wanted the tea more than the photo… it was one of those “I want it NOW” moods and setting up the light cube cuts into the much desired instant gratification..

Hibiscus tea is sort of a special occasion, company thing.. except today there was no company and no special occasion, other than getting thrown by my bicycle for the second time in a week..but riding a bike down stairs probably wasn’t a good idea, even if it seemed so at the time…

There may be an impulse control issue in there somewhere…which explains a lot..

Aside from work, dinner and baking.. I collect, buy and sell (in theory) mastodon ivory netsuke, dragons mostly, but I go for daily life scenes as well.. bakers, brewers, archers etc, which reflect my personal interests.. or because the work is exceptional… netsuke and jade bowls were my reward for holding it together one more season, under arguably brutal working conditions..

They meet the high value, small size criteria. my habitat/lifestyle requires…

Each and every one has a story… a who, what, when, where and how it was acquired..

I have other interests, aside from baking and dinner.. I occasionally work as a silversmith.. which is a good fit for my world, high value, small space, etc.. the stones are mostly opals, turquoise and amber.. which become rings, pendants or whatever, made specifically for the client on the spot considering skin tone, eye color and personal preferences..

There are boxes upon boxes of pirate loot, enough to fill a 10X20 booth a few times, along with things seldom seen outside of museums.. which has a particular appeal to my sense of humor and irony.. People who are in my personal life seldom or never see more than one or two pieces.. its a security thing. People at shows have no clue where I come from, live or go next..another security thing..

Marketing according to Sun Tzu..

I love the market grind, and being nomadic… but one needs must evolve and adapt at some point, Esty looks good, with lots of interesting things happening. AND no 30 hour drives to a show…no set ups, or tons of loading and unloading, no hustlers, professional thieves, grifters or blown engines..

The hard part is not having face to face contact….and seeing the OMG I need that light come on..